Rule of thumb - cost of ripping out tiles?

ben_m_g

(Note; I spent some time typing up an in-depth question, before an error wiped away my work, so I will keep this one as brief as possible.)

I am looking for a house to buy this year, but always get hung up on the sellers personal taste, especially in the kitchen and bathroom where it costs the most to change.

We have seen some great houses with awful kitchens, it seems to be a lot of bold statements, or just the cheapest make do and mend sorts.

The main cost (as I see it) is floor and wall tiles, they ruin the plaster behind it, make a great deal of mess and costs the most to change.

Is there a rule of thumb in working out how much it would be to rip out wall and floor tiling?
I'm not bothered too much with the costs of laying / fitting new stuff in (I can work that out as a £psm).


Two examples:

Kitchen one 3m X 3m, black worktop, (almost) black doors, black (high gloss ceramic) floor tiles, black (brick effect) wall tiles, dark grey cabinets. Wall tiles are around three quarters of the room.
-Cost of ripping out the floor and wall tiles?

Kitchen two, 5.3m X 3.3m, cream doors, cream walls, white (large stone effect ceramic) floor tiles, white (small square) wall tiles, beige worktops.
-cost of ripping out floor tiles?

((Of course when we get closer to actually making offers (just browsing atm) I would get a professional to quote properly, but this would help give me an idea of spend on a new house.))

Procrastinator333

To just remove all the old tiles, it can't be more than 1-2 days work for someone with the right tools. So the cost won't be huge.

Also, to save a bit on the cost of the job. Get them to bag it up - but leave the waste with you, you can take it to the tip for free (though this will be hard work as it will weight a fair bit). They will have to pay disposal charges.

jc808

Also you need prep costs too, once the tiles are off, though assume the tiler doing your new tiles will do all this.

Depends on the state of the walls, youmight need floor relevelling or walls skimmed.

brightontraveller

ben_m_g wrote: »

Is there a rule of thumb in working out how much it would be to rip out wall and floor tiling?
)

Different surfaces ,installation methods, type of tile, finished surface underneath, locations, access waste removal etc all add subtract from the cost you’d get a more informed idea when you have all info otherwise its just pure guess work not the best way to budget? [FONT=&quot]What you can do prior is add the cost of the materials you’d like e'g tiles etc but not really the installation or preparation cost till you know more info [/FONT]

ben_m_g

Great feedback already, thanks.

Taking the waste away is something I would do automatically for carpets, I never thought about doing it for tiles, it is something I will have to remember that when I get quotes.

Prep work would be minor (I hope) for flooring at least, I wouldn't be putting tiles back down, we like a wooden floor and wooden counter top style so as long as the concrete is half decent (it is mostly new-ish houses) the planks should be able to be laid without too much fuss.
The walls would have to be made good, but not retiled, as prefer the (I have no idea of what it is really called) continuation of the worktop on the wall.

Again mostly newer houses so installation should mostly be the same for wall tiles, floors and walls should be pretty good underneath with concrete floors.

Has anyone been quoted for just ripping tiles off and making good?

trailingspouse

I did it myself. Bolster chisel, hammer, safety goggles. Put an old duvet over anything that you don't want to damage, and get stuck in.

ben_m_g

I admit I've done it myself in the past, took out a bathroom floor, kitchen tiles and did a little bit of tiling.

I hated it, shards everywhere, due to working long hours, some nights I could only do a couple at a time.
Especially if we are talking about a 5m X 3m area, I would much rather have someone else do it.

BJV

So strange and completely off topic but we had our bathroom and kitchen done last year. Kitchen is well I think very nice big range plain walls and bathroom has floor to ceiling tiles, ( slate, tiles effect big bath ) looks fab. I had done it in the hope that 2 years from now when we hope to sell it would help. So it has just set alarm bells off that a buyer would look and think OMG have to rip it out, That's going to cost a lot. Just having an extension built with floor tiles right through the downstairs again porcelain which I think will look amazing. But again you views on real statement ????


P.S when we did the bathroom we took everything to the tip ourselves and it saved a fortune. A bit of a pain every morning on the way top work but I reckon it saved us a hundreds.

ben_m_g

BJV wrote: »

So strange and completely off topic but we had our bathroom and kitchen done last year. Kitchen is well I think very nice big range plain walls and bathroom has floor to ceiling tiles, ( slate, tiles effect big bath ) looks fab. I had done it in the hope that 2 years from now when we hope to sell it would help. So it has just set alarm bells off that a buyer would look and think OMG have to rip it out, That's going to cost a lot. Just having an extension built with floor tiles right through the downstairs again porcelain which I think will look amazing. But again you views on real statement ????


P.S when we did the bathroom we took everything to the tip ourselves and it saved a fortune. A bit of a pain every morning on the way top work but I reckon it saved us a hundreds.

Personally it would be an issue for me if it wasn't to my taste, removing tiles can be a big, messy, expensive job, some buyers just don't want the expense / aggravation.

BUT it all comes down to how it looks and price of the property.
If you would like a general opinion, perhaps post some photos?



Oddly enough this topic was on phil spencer's secret agent. the couple had put marble tiles everywhere, and just couldn't understand that it wasn't to everyone's taste. The house didn't sell and they where adamant that they wouldn't take the tiles up.

Better_Days

We have recently had the tiles replaced in bathroom, ensuite and kitchen.

Kitchen and bathroom not too bad. Tiler was able to make good with with filling. But in the ensuite there was a leak between the tiles that we were unaware of. So the plasterboard had to be ripped out in that part of the wall and replaced. We were just about able to get away without getting the rest of the wall skimmed - a lot depends on the wall in the first place and the adhesive used by the original tiler.

So it is worth building an 'unexpected' element into your budget.